Environmentalists See Red Over Teak Imports

CHIANG RAI - Conversationists are protesting Chiang Rai's decision to  allow teak logs imported from Burma to pass through the northern Thai  province. They said that this will lead to an increase in illegal  logging activities in Thai forests.

The Mae Sai customs office in Chiang Rai has allowed the import of  270 teak logs worth about 40 million baht (1,000 U.S. dollars) via  the second Thai-Burmese friendship bridge. It is the first time the  import of Burmese teak has been allowed through Chiang Rai province.

The 270 cubic metres of high-grade timber belongs to Siva Co, a firm  run by Thai businessmen.

The Mae Sai customs office said the Bangkok-bound logs, 60 to 100 cm  wide, are being temporarily kept at a warehouse in Tambon Mae Sai.

Sasin Chalermlab, secretary-general of the Sueb Nakhasathien  Foundation, called on the government to impose a permanent ban on  Burmese timber imports. "Deforestation in the neighbouring country  was bound to cause negative environmental impacts in Thailand, whose  forest cover is interconnected with Burma's,'' he said.

Timber imports from Burma were halted after the 1997 Salween logging  scandal when it was found that the trees felled in the Salween  National Park were smuggled into Burma before being imported back  into Thailand.

Mae Sai customs chief Chuchai Udompote revealed that another shipment  of 20,000 teak logs, amounting to about 20,000 cubic metres, is set  to be brought into Chiang Rai via the second friendship bridge soon.  Chuchai said his agency had taxed Siva Co 3.2 million baht (80,000  dollars) for the log imports.

Anond Makmasil, of Siva Co, told the committee that teak imports from  Burma were needed to ease a teak shortage in Thailand Burma exported  about 500,000 cubic metres of timber to 167 countries last year, he  said. (BANGKOK POST, July 26, 2006)